Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Down 2.3% – Time to Sell?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)’s stock price traded down 2.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $28.29 and last traded at $28.43. 1,105,135 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 4,010,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 3.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -27.96 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.